Skip to main content

From RSS to BJP and now chief minister of Gujarat, Vijay Rupani is Modi's choice

By Rajiv Shah
Setting aside feverish speculation over the past few days that Nitin Patel would become the next chief minister of Gujarat following the resignation earlier this week of Anandiben Patel, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday opted for his well-known protege, Vijay Rupani, for the crucial post. Unlike Patel, who is known for his short temper with party colleagues as well as with others, Rupani is suave and affable – a characteristic lacking in the current tribe of BJP politicians in the state.
The low-profile Rupani, who is 60-years-old, belongs to the Saurashtra region and is the first Jain to become chief minister of Gujarat. Named leader of the BJP in the state earlier this year, he is known for his excellent rapport with both party cadres as well as the administrative apparatus. When he was asked two days ago whether he would like to become chief minister, Rupani told newspersons that he was “not in the race”, adding that he had “conveyed” to the high command that he would rather serve the party.
He said this even as Patel’s men were celebrating with crackers in Mehsana in north Gujarat over rumours that he had been “chosen” as the chief minister.
A politician who has so far managed to remain above controversy, Rupani won the Rajkot (West) seat of the Gujarat state assembly with a margin of 24,000 votes in a by-poll in 2014. A first time MLA, the seat was vacated by finance minister Vajubhai Vala, who was chosen as Karnataka governor after Modi became prime minister. Associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh since his school days, Rupani was a Rajya Sabha MP from 2006 to 2012.
BJP insiders say that while there was considerable pressure from the Patel lobby within the party to make Nitin Patel the chief minister, he lost out because he was “not trusted” either by Modi or BJP president Amit Shah. People in the BJP, especially office bearers in the party, have been heard privately accusing Patel’s men of supporting the year-old Patidar agitation, both morally and materially.
In fact, ever since Patel’s name started circulating in the Gujarat media earlier this week, many in the BJP began expressing dismay, saying he was not only disliked within the party but even in the administration. While this played a role in his being pipped to the post by Rupani, Patel’s clout has at least ensured that he was named deputy chief minister.
When Rupani was inducted in the cabinet by chief minister Anandiben Patel in 2014, many were surprised that he was given the “unimportant” labour and employment portfolio. While differences between Anandiben and Rupani never came out in the open, it is well known that she adopted a hardline approach towards the Patidar agitation, while Rupani wanted to deal with the protestors in a more conciliatory manner. “We must have talks with the Patidar leaders across the table”, he would insist.
Known to be close to both Amit Shah and Modi, Rupani began his political career as an Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad leader and then graduated to the corporation politics in Saurashtra and especially Rajkot. As I.P. Gautam, the former mayor of Rajkot – who was also Rajkot municipal commissioner in the early 1990s as an IAS officer – recalled to this correspondent, it was a “boon” to work with Rupani because he had a good understanding of urban issues.
Known to be cast in the RSS mould, Rupani is a leader who strongly believes that there has to be a Hindutva backdrop to every political action.
He described the recent Dalit agitation against the assault on four Dalit youths for skinning a dead cow as a “law and order problem”, which the state government was trying to solve. Rupani even said, on the record, that caste is “not an issue in Gujarat.”
BJP’s Dalit leaders are said to be unhappy with him for never visiting Una, where the incident took place, or meeting the Dalit victims in hospital, despite belonging to the Saurashtra region where the incident took place.
---
This article was first published HERE

Comments

TRENDING

Importance of Bangladesh for India amidst 'growing might' of China in South Asia

By Samara Ashrat*  The basic key factor behind the geopolitical importance of Bangladesh is its geographical location. The country shares land borders with Myanmar and India. Due to its geographical position, Bangladesh is a natural link between South Asia and Southeast Asia.  The country is also a vital geopolitical ally to India, in that it has the potential to facilitate greater integration between Northeast India and Mainland India. Not only that, due to its open access to the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh has become significant to both China and the US.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

'BBC film shows only tip of iceberg': Sanjiv Bhatt's daughter speaks at top US press club

By Our Representative   The United States' premier journalists' organisation, the National Press Club (NPC), has come down heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for recent "attacks on journalists in India." Speaking at the screening of an episode of the BBC documentary “India: The Modi Question,” banned in India, in the club premises, NPC President Eileen O’Reilly said, “Since Modi came to power we have watched with frustration and disappointment as his regime has suppressed the rights of its citizens to a free and independent news media."

Chinese pressure? Left stateless, Rohingya crisis result of Myanmar citizenship law

By Dr Shakuntala Bhabani*  A 22-member team of Myanmar immigration officials visited Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazar to verify more than 400 Rohingya refugees as part of a pilot repatriation project. Does it hold out any hope for the forcibly displaced people to return to their ancestral homes in the Rakhine state of Myanmar? Only time will tell.

China ties up with India, Bangladesh to repatriate Rohingyas; Myanmar unwilling

By Harunur Rasid*  We now have a new hope, thanks to news reports that were published in the Bangladeshi dailies recently. Myanmar has suddenly taken initiatives to repatriate Rohingyas. As part of this initiative, diplomats from eight countries posted in Yangon were flown to Rakhine last week. Among them were diplomats from Bangladesh, India and China.

Natural farming: Hamirpur leads the way to 'huge improvement' in nutrition, livelihood

By Bharat Dogra*  Santosh is a dedicated farmer who along with his wife Chunni Devi worked very hard in recent months to convert a small patch of unproductive land into a lush green, multi-layer vegetable garden. This has ensured year-round supply of organically grown vegetables to his family as well as fetched several thousand rupees in cash sales.

Over-stressed? As Naveen Patnaik turns frail, Odisha 'moves closer' to leadership crisis

By Sudhansu R Das  Not a single leader in Odisha is visible in the horizon who can replace Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. He has ruled Odisha for nearly two and half decades. His father, Biju Patnaik, had built Odisha; he was a daring pilot who saved the life of Indonesia’s Prime Minister Sjahrir and President Sukarno when the Dutch army blocked their exit.

Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, Ban Ki-moon, others ask Bangladesh PM to 'protect' Yunus

Counterview Desk  A campaign has been launched to support Bangladesh-based economist, micro-finance guru and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, seeking signatures from citizens across the globe in order to “protect” his work, life and safety.

Electricity sharing opens up new window for India’s eastern neighbourhood engagement

By Sufian Asif* Today, challenges like climate change, pandemics, energy reliance, economic crisis, and many more are concerning us. No nation can overcome these obstacles without the assistance and collaboration of other nations. Most importantly, many of these problems have international repercussions. South Asia is facing much more difficulty when compared to other regions. In South Asia, we have some regional organizations, but they are ineffective.